Dealing with Difficult People part 2 Be Humble

Kveðjur og velkomin! I believe this is Icelandic for „Greetings & welcome!“ If you aren‘t from Minneasota you wouldn‘t know this but for the past few days the streets, side walks, parking lots, and driveways have been like ice rinks…hence the Icelandic greeting. Thank you to those of you first time readers and thanks to our faithful readers/contributers.

We began a short series of posts last week on “Dealing with Difficult People” with the blog entitled Dealing with Difficult People part 1. The purpose of this series is to give you some time tested principles and resources that I have compiled in decades of working with people; much of which I have learn from amazing experts in the fields of Life Coaching, Sales, Training, Negotiation, Psychology, and other arenas of public service. Why does an IT company offer this kind of training/knowledge? The “I” in IT represents information, not internet, and we are much more than a computer tech company. I like to think of CSI Onsite as a solution provider as well as your one stop shop for all your IT needs.

The last post introduced you to 4 Guiding Principles to follow when dealing with all people (especially the difficult ones):

Being humble is a trait that you will find among many who have achieved excellence as well as success. Quick definitions to set the context:

Success: Reaching the Destination
Excellence: Doing well on the journey to your destination

True humility isn’t being a martyr “go on without me; just leave me some water, ammo, some chips if you’ve got’em…” It is really about the way you see yourself & others fitting into the big picture of life, work, etc…

Has Moss been Successful? Yes. Has Moss done so with Excellence? Not really (he played for the MN Vikings for a long time…I have witnessed his character flaws many times over).

Staying in the NFL motif, look at someone who is acknowledged as truly excellent and successful, Walter Payton. He held and set no fewer than 13 NFL records, one for 18 years. If any football player had reason to be cocky it was Payton. But when asked about how he managed to set the all time rushing yards gained record of 16,726 yards, his answer is classic humble. The reporter made a brilliant point in his question “that’s 9 miles Walter, how did you do this, especially since you were stopped every 4 .5 yards by a tackler?” Payton said “I just kept getting back up.”

I could site more examples from multiple sources, but I think you can see the difference between these two people and see the humility at work.

How can you be humble and still get ahead, especially when dealing with difficult people? I have compiled a list of behaviors, choices, actions one can pursue to be humble in their everyday life. I used a list created by a blogger who did not identify himself as more than Mike at a site called LearnThis.com.
Look through these, print them out, email them, make your own list and work on your own method toward being successful, excellent, and humble. Next week we will look at principle 3 “Be an Active Listener.”

I’ll leave you with a quote from Walter Payton coach, the legendary Mike Ditka:
“Walter Payton is the greatest football player I have ever seen
—but even greater as a human being.”

Wouldn’t that be something if the difficult people in our lives’ could say that about us?!

These are Actions/Choices you can make that are internal, core value, life guiding types of principles

Make a choice to act more humbly, practice at least one humble act each day

Know that timing is everything and everyone excels at different times in life

Use the response “It’s My Pleasure” when someone thanks you for doing something.

Use the response “I’d be honored” when someone asks you to help them or do something with them.

Listen more than you talk

Count to 3 before adding to a conversation to ensure the other person is done

It’s OK to be wrong and so admit it

Admit when you don’t understand or know something

Understand that your skills have been developed with the help of others

Share your own knowledge to pass on what you have learned

These are Actions/Choices you can make that involve other people

Forgive those who wrong you and move on without revenge or lashing back

Be willing to follow another person in conversation even if you don’t get to talk about your idea

Give credit for other’s ideas that you are carrying through on

Ask others for the opinion of others, ask others to join conversations and contribute

Always find ways to appreciate what others are doing well.

Pass on thanks when you receive it to those who helped you achieve what was thanked